A Link to the Past
by do i need a pen name
Summary: Six years after the birth of their daughter, Edward and Bella are met with a shocking surprise on their doorstep. Very shocking. It's there because of Bella, but it has a link to Edward's past…as a human…COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**A Link to the Past**

**Prologue**

**Chicago, 1918**

_**Third Person POV**_

"Where are you taking me?" The little green-eyed girl demanded of the middle-aged woman whose hand she was holding. "What happened to my mommy and daddy?"

"I'm taking you somewhere where you can play with other children your own age." The woman replied shortly. "You'll be staying there for a while."

"But what about my family?" The little girl demanded.

The woman looked down at the little girl, and a sad expression passed across her face, but a moment later it was gone. She turned her attention back to where she was leading the little girl without a word.

"Where did the men take my family?" The little girl asked, softly now.

"To the hospital." The woman finally responded, a bit reluctantly.

"Are they going to come home?" The little girl asked. "Will they be alright?"

The woman became silent again.

"I want mommy and daddy and Edward." The six-year old said softly.

* * *

"Emma Masen?" A voice asked.

The green-eyed girl looked up from the doll she hadn't really been playing with. It was the same woman who had brought her here; to the Orphanage. She had been here for a little over a week and no one would tell her where her family was, or when she would be allowed to go home. Emma didn't like the Orphanage. The other children didn't seem to like her because she kept talking about her parents and older brother all of the time.

"Yes?" Emma said softly.

The woman walked into the small room and sat down on the narrow bed next to the young girl. "I came to talk to you about your family."

"Are they coming to get me?" Emma asked, looking hopeful. "Will they take me home?"

"They aren't coming." The woman said slowly. She was in charge of the Orphanage, and all of the other children seemed to like her, but Emma didn't. She didn't know why she didn't like the woman; she seemed nice enough…

"Why not?"

"Do you know why they were taken to the hospital?" The woman asked. Emma shook her head. "Your parents and your brother were very sick. They all had something called the Spanish Influenza. They were taken to the hospital so that the doctors could take care of them."

"Will they be staying in the hospital much longer?" Emma asked.

The woman shook her head. "I've just received a letter from the doctors…Emma, your mom, your dad, and your brother didn't make it. They're gone."

Emma looked up at the woman's face with wide eyes. "Gone?" She repeated.

The woman nodded. "I'm sorry Emma."

Tears threatened to run down her cheeks, but little Emma blinked them back bravely. "What's going to happen to me now?" She wanted to know.

"You're going to have to stay here for a while, Emma." The woman said. "There's nowhere else for you to go…"

* * *

**Chicago, 1936**

Emma looked lovingly down at the bundle of blankets in her arms.

"Elizabeth," She said softly, "We'll call her Elizabeth."

"Whatever you want, dear." The man sitting beside her on the bed said.

"After my mother." Emma whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

The man nodded. "I'm sure she would be so proud of you right now." He said, wrapping one arm around his wife's shoulder.

"She would." Emma said, still whispering. "So would dad…and Edward."

* * *

**Chicago, 1959**

"Look, mom," Elizabeth said, placing the bundle of blankets in her mother's arms, "He has your eyes."

"He does." Emma said softly, staring lovingly down at her newborn grandson. "Just like mine. Does he have a name yet?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "We haven't picked one out yet. Do you have any ideas?"

"His eyes…" Emma said softly. "They're just like my brother's eyes were, too."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked, and Emma nodded. "Your brother's name was Edward, wasn't it?"

Again, Emma nodded. "Edward Anthony Masen."

"Then I think I've just found the perfect name for the baby…"

* * *

**Phoenix, 1982**

"Mom? Can you hear me?" Edward asked through the pay phone.

"Of course I can." Came the reply. "I'm not that old."

"Of course not, mom." Edward replied with a grin his mother could not see, but could most definitely hear in her son's tone.

"Was there a reason you called?" Elizabeth demanded. "Or was it just to make fun of your aging mother?"

"Helen had the baby, mom." Edward said, pride leaking through his voice now. "It's a boy."

"That's wonderful, Edward, dear." Elizabeth said. "I'll come out as soon as I can get the next flight, alright?"

"Sure, mom." Edward answered. "Is Grandma Emma there?"

"Always." Elizabeth said, "Do you want me to put her on?"

"Yeah, there's something I want to tell her." Edward told her.

"Hold on…Mom!" Edward could hear Elizabeth calling through the phone. "Edward's on the phone, he wants to talk to you."

"Hello?" Came the familiar voice of his grandmother a moment later. "Edward?"

"Hi Grandma," Edward said, "Guess what? You're now a great-grandmother."

"Congratulations Edward." Emma said joyfully. "I'm so happy for you. I suppose your mother is going out to Arizona to see you?"

"Yep." Edward said. "And you should come too, Grandma. How many times are you going to be a great-grandmother for the first time?"

Emma laughed. "Have you and Helen picked out a name yet? I know you were all set on girl's names."

"Helen wants to name him after me, but the opposite." Edward replied. "Anthony Edward…"

* * *

**Seattle, 2006**

"She's beautiful…" Was the whisper that came out of the new mother's mouth.

"She is." Anthony agreed, looking down at his newborn daughter. "She has Grandma Emma's eyes, dad's too…I just wish they could all be here to see her."

His wife, Kate, nodded her agreement. "Your Grandma Emma lived a good long life; 94 years, I suppose it was her time to go. But that fire…your parents and your Grandma Elizabeth…"

Anthony just nodded.

"We could name her after them." Kate offered. "Emma Elizabeth. I like it; it's a nice name."

"They would have liked it, too…"

* * *

**Seattle, 2012**

"That poor boy, there was just so much tragedy towards the end of his life." An old woman whispered as she sat in the funeral home "First his great-grandmother died, then his grandmother and both of his parents died in that awful fire a few years ago."

"And then his wife died in that accident just a few months ago." Her companion whispered. "He lost everything, except for his little girl. He must have just given up."

"That poor little girl…" The first woman said softly. "What's going to happen to her now? No parents, no grandparents…"

"Poor Emma." The second woman agreed. "She'll probably end up going to the closest living relative."

"I thought there weren't any relatives." The first woman contradicted. "Anthony didn't have any siblings, nor did his parents, nor Kate."

"She had that cousin." The second woman remembered. "A younger cousin…just by a few years…They were actually something like third cousins, but the two of them were close; I remember seeing her at the funeral a few months ago. Maybe Emma will go to her…"


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**London, 2012**

**_Bella's POV_**

"But Momma…" Renesmee complained to me, again bringing up the same argument we've been having for days, now. "I don't want to go to school! I don't need it, either. Daddy and Grandpa Carlisle have been home-schooling me my whole life. Why do I need to go to school now?"

I took a deep breath of air, more out of frustration than actual necessity, then let it out slowly. This was an old argument. Renesmee, as much as I loved her, was a bit too used to getting her own way.

"Renesmee," I began slowly, going to stand in front of her and placing both of my hands on her shoulders. "I've already explained this to you, I know I have. You're almost six years old, now. Legally, you have to start going to school."

Renesmee just narrowed her eyes at me. "Legally? When has anyone in this family been concerned with upholding the law? And you know, legally, daddy is dead—"

"And yet he still finds time to occasionally go to school." I interrupted. "Besides, your dad is the one who originally had the idea to send you to school for real. He thinks you spend to much time just with the family."

Renesmee frowned again. She doesn't like being reminded of what she sees as a blatant betrayal from the one man on earth that will give her absolutely everything she wants. Well, actually, one of two men…

Then, Renesmee sighed. She hates fighting with us. Any of us. She shrugged out from under my icy cold hands, and walked over to the window of our apartment. We're the only two here right now. Edward went hunting with his father and brothers, and Rosalie, who had been here earlier visiting, had been dragged off on a shopping expedition by Alice and Esme, but mostly Alice.

Slowly, at a human pace, I followed her to the window. We have a lovely view of foggy London.

"I'm sorry I'm causing so much trouble, Momma." Renesmee finally said, her forehead pressed to the glass that was almost as cool as my skin. "I'm just worried I won't fit in at a normal school."

"Normal?" I questioned, one eyebrow raised.

"You know what I mean." Renesmee replied shortly. "A school full of people who don't drink blood as their only source of nourishment."

"You'll fit in just fine." I try to tell my only child, but she just shook her head, refusing to listen.

"I'm so different…" She whispers now, but not so softly that I can't hear her. "Momma, what if I change so quickly they notice? What if they figure out the truth?"

"Teenagers are supposed to change." I tell her. "It's all part of growing up."

"Yeah," Renesmee muttered more to herself than to me, "Except I grew up years ago."

I frowned at this. I had long ago accepted and even embraced the fact that, as a half-vampire, my daughter will reach maturity about seven years after her birth. She grows and learns at an extremely fast rate; there's is no other way about it when she says she grew up a long time ago.

We've been arguing about her going to a real high school for a while, but now I think I've finally realized that there is something more bothering my daughter than just not fitting in. Yes, on the surface, she really doesn't want to have to go to a real school, but there's something else underneath that. If only Edward was here, then he could tell me what it is. Although, I've noticed that Renesmee only brings up the subject of not going to school when Edward isn't around.

"And I don't want to have to go to school in London." Renesmee went back to talking about school, as if she could read my mind. "What if we decide to move again soon? How am I supposed to catch up on the curriculum in another country?"

I didn't answer, my brow automatically furrowing with confusion as she speaks.

"Why would you go to school in London?" I asked slowly, puzzled.

Now, finally, Renesmee turned to look at me. A look of alarm written plainly across her face.

"Momma," She began, concerned for some reason, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I demand, now even more puzzled.

"You do know that we're living in London, don't you, Momma?" Renesmee asked me slowly. "That's why I'd go to school here; it's where we live."

"But you aren't going to school here," I informed her, "I know Grandpa Carlisle told you that we're moving."

Again.

The un-said word hangs in the air between us. Although she fully understands why we do it, Renesmee has very strong objections to moving around so much. And all of them can be summed up in just one word.

Jacob.

My shape-shifting werewolf friend, Jacob. He and my daughter have a connection that none of us can fully understand. Even Jacob doesn't completely know how it works, but he believes in it. Jacob, however, lives in Washington, on the other side of the planet from us, currently. It's hard on both of them to be separated for long. It's August now; we haven't been home to Forks since last Christmas. And, while Edward and Jacob have definitely grown closer ever since Renesmee's birth, my husband has been very adamant about having our daughter to ourselves sans any travelling companions until she's at least fully grown. Jacob had argued about the imposed separation from the very beginning, but could not argue with Edward's logic. What were a few years when they were going to have all of eternity in the end?

"Where to, this time?" Renesmee asked me, glum now.

I suppressed the sudden urge to laugh. It all makes perfect sense now. Renesmee didn't know. She can't possibly have known, the way she's been acting the past week. I know I told her already—correction, Edward told her…at the same time he told her she would be attending a real school this fall, which explains why she didn't hear what else he said about moving. But that's just my lovely daughter for you. Never pays attention, that one; her head is always in the clouds, daydreaming…But only when we're not in Forks, or remotely close to it.

"We've told you already." I said, trying my best not to sound too amused. Renesmee noticed, however, and looked at me sharply.

"Where?" She repeated, her tone dull again as she turned back to look out the window, bracing herself for bad news.

She really would get mad at me if I keep this from her any longer, so I simply said, "Home."

Her head snapped around, her eyes widened in shock.

"Since when?" She demanded gleefully, eyes alight. "And why did no one think to tell me of this little detail?"

"Since your father told you we were sending you to high school, more specifically the one where the two of us met." I replied, practically quoting exactly what Edward had told her nearly a week ago, word for word.

"What?" She practically shouted. "I thought he said you were sending me to high school because that's _how_ you two met."

"No." I said shortly.

"Yes!" Renesmee exclaimed, suddenly alight with joy at the prospect of returning home. She started jumping around the room in excitement, just a bit too quickly for the normal human eye to spot.

Well, that explains that. She's definitely been suffering Jacob-withdrawal lately. Emmett's words not mine.

And suddenly Renesmee wrapped her arms around my middle; she's still a bit on the short side, shorter even than Alice. But not by much, as she is quick to remind anyone who points that little detail out.

"Thank you, Momma!" She said happily. "Thank you so much! I can't wait to tell Jake that I'm coming home. You haven't told the pack you're coming back, yet, have you? Please say no. I want to be the one to tell Jacob."

"Thank your father; it was his idea." I told her lightly, wrapping my arms around her all the same. "And we haven't told anyone yet; it was going to be a surprise."

"I like that idea better." Renesmee said, and even though I couldn't see her face, I could hear her smile.

We stood like that for a moment, Renesmee squeezing me so hard that, if I still needed oxygen to survive, I would be purple from the lack of air going to my lungs. As a vampire, though, I'm quite safe.

"Momma?" Renesmee said suddenly, as one of my hands absent-mindedly stroked her long copper curls.

"Yes?"

"I still don't want to go to real school." Renesmee stated in a very serious tone. "I think I'd rather not be an only child anymore than go to school."

I let out a low chuckle at this.

"Then isn't it a shame that you're going to be an only child for the rest of eternity?"


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N-J****ust to clear a few things up: Renesmee is about six years old in this story, technically. Physically, I've pictured her to be about fifteen. So, in the event that she does get over her aversion to attending school, she'd be a sophomore in high school, or quite possibly a junior, seeing as she's been taught by some pretty smart people throughout her life. I have yet to decide which one, but I believe she's going to be a sophomore. Also, unless otherwise stated, the rest of the story will be in Bella's POV.**

**Chapter Two**

**Forks, Washington, 2012**

"She seems happier." Edward commented lightly, mid-flight across the Atlantic. We were on our way back to Forks, and I knew instantly that he was talking about Renesmee.

I glanced across the aisle to where she was sitting next to Alice; the two of them arguing about something in one of Alice's numerous fashion magazines. On Alice's other side, the expression on Jasper's face clearly says he wishes he had the ability to fall asleep so he wouldn't have to listen to the two of them. Knowing firsthand how hard it is, even for a vampire, to tune those two out-especially together, I had immense sympathy for him. However, I wasn't about to enter the fray to save him either. I was quite happy far, far away from that particular conversation. Or, as far away as one can get while trapped in the enclosed space of a trans-Atlantic flight.

"She is." I replied shortly. "Apparently, she didn't hear you say we were moving back to Forks when you had the high school talk with her."

Edward nodded. "She was too busy thinking about how that means we'd be staying in London at least another year."

"She misses him." I said softly.

"She's been thinking about him non-stop all morning." Edward stated. "I never thought there would be a time when I wished I couldn't read minds. I really don't need to know every single one of Renesmee's thoughts on Jacob."

I smiled and laughed slightly. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

"Has she agreed to go to school, yet?" Edward asked me suddenly.

I looked at him questioningly. I know that Edward knows that Renesmee refuses to go to school, but it's not something I constantly bring up with him. It's killing him enough as it is to deny her the one thing she wants right now.

"Jasper's been keeping me up to date on your frustration." Edward said with a slight chuckle at whatever expression he clearly found amusing on my face.

I turned my head slightly and saw that Jasper was already looking in our direction, having heard his name mentioned. As I turned back to face Edward, however, I caught the crestfallen expression on Jasper's face. Obviously he had been hoping for a distraction from all of the talk of the world of fashion.

"She hasn't." I said shortly. "She seems to think she's going to be home-schooled her entire life." I sighed. "She's afraid she's not going to fit in; that she's too different from everyone else."

"Doesn't every teenager think like that?" Edward replied knowingly.

I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't. "She's only six." I whispered. "Not even that much."

"Yes, but imagine dealing with an actual six-year old who didn't wan to go to school." Edward said, trying to lift my mood. "Personally, I think we got the better deal."

I did smile at that.

"She is better than an actual six-year old." I finally agreed, leaning my head against Edward's shoulder and shutting my eyes, as if I was about to fall asleep. It was a long flight, and I needed to show the wear and tear. "It's a good thing we'll never have to go through that."

* * *

"Ugh." Renesmee said, wrinkling her nose as she surveyed the room before her. "I hate dust."

Well, what a shame for her that there was dust everywhere, then. Literally. The last time anyone had stepped foot into the cottage that had been Esme's present to Edward and myself, had been just after the New Year. So, in short, we found ourselves being welcomed home after more than eight months by a great deal of dust.

"You know," I began, "They keep Forks High School dusted quite regularly."

"Is that suppose to be my incentive to actually want to go to school?" Renesmee inquired.

"No," Edward said shortly, walking into the main room of the cottage, yet another stack of boxes in his arms. As he moved all of our clothing and personal affects into the cottage, Renesmee and I were busy trying to remove every trace of dust from the place. "Your incentive is supposed to be your need to acquire all means of knowledge."

"But I can learn all kinds of things from you and Grandpa Carlisle, daddy." Renesmee said sweetly, attempting to charm him into letting her get her own way as she has done so many times before.

"Not if we refuse to teach you anything, you won't."

Renesmee sighed tragically at not yet winning her case, but then perked up instantly upon glancing at the clock.

"Do you think Jake will be up yet, Momma?" She asked me, all thoughts of school temporarily abandoned. "It's already two o'clock. And at Christmas he told me that Seth refuses to let him run patrol at night, unless they're in the middle of some kind of emergency. So, he should be getting plenty of sleep at the normal hours of night."

I quirked one eyebrow amused. "Seth refuses to let Jacob run? How does that work out?"

Renesmee shrugged, absentmindedly going back to the dusting. "I think it might have something to do with that time I got really mad at Jake for falling asleep when he was playing with me, almost three years ago. Remember how I wouldn't talk to him for three days straight? Well, Leah doesn't like when Jake mopes, and things never go well for Seth, or anyone else for that matter, when Leah gets in a bad mood."

I opened my mouth to respond to this statement of true fact, but the ringing of the phone in my pocket promptly cut me off. I pulled it out, took one glance at the caller ID, flipped it open, and pressed it to my ear all in less than the space of two seconds.

"I'm too busy to go shopping, Alice." I said without preamble.

"No one can ever be too busy to shop." Alice declared. "And sorry Bella, but I'm still the only one in this family who can see the future—do you think you guys can come up to the house? If you're not too busy, of course…There's someone here to see you, and I'd rather not risk their lives sending them to the cottage."

"Me?" I questioned. "Who?"

"Just get here as soon as you can." Alice said by way of reply. Then there was a click and the line went dead.

"What'd she want?" Renesmee asked. "You could have told her that I was free for shopping, you know."

"I thought you were all hyped up to see Jake…" I commented slowly, glancing around the room. "And where did your father get to?"

"I'm right here." Edward said, suddenly appearing in the doorway to the hall that led to our bedrooms. "Why?"

"Alice called." I replied. "Apparently there's someone up at the house who wants to see me."

"Did she say who it was?" Edward inquired, setting down a box of books acquired throughout our travels in front of the shelves we had yet to dust.

I shook my head. "All she said was to hurry."

"I'll come with you." Edward offered, holding out his hand.

I grasped it with my own, and as we began walking towards the door, Renesmee trailed along behind us.

"…Though I doubt it was Jake…" She muttered to herself as we exited the cottage, she pulled the door shut and followed behind us as we ran. "There's no way Aunt Rose would have put up with him while he waited for us to get there. And she did specify that it's someone for Momma…"

"Has she always talked to herself like that?" Edward murmured to me in a voice so low even Renesmee, who's hearing was amplified by her vampire heritage, could not hear it.

I gave the most imperceptible of headshakes. "I think it's something she picked up from Jacob." I smirked at him. "Or you, with that humming of yours."

Edward just rolled his eyes at me.

In a matter of minutes, we had reached the river and in one bound, we had all crossed it. Once across, however, we slowed down to a human pace and approached the glass back of the house at a walk. We entered through the kitchen door and, almost immediately, we were overwhelmed by two scents unfamiliar to the house. I recognized one of them almost immediately.

I narrowed my eyes at the voices drifting into the kitchen. One of them belonged to Esme, the other was unfamiliar. But that scent…

"What's wrong?" Edward asked me, looking at me with concern, upon sensing my apparent distress.

"Emma." I said shortly. "Emma's out there. But the other person…it's not her dad."

"What about her mom?" Renesmee asked, speaking up now, recognizing the name as belonging to the daughter of one of the few cousins I had on Charlie's side of the family.

I shook my head. "Her mom died a few months back. That's why I didn't come to London with the rest of you back in January. I stayed behind to go to her funeral with Charlie." I frowned now. "But why would Emma be here?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out…" Edward trailed off.

I nodded slowly and then, determined, I took the last few remaining steps through the door that led from the kitchen to the rest of the house.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

As I surveyed the room before me all appeared normal. Well, almost normal. Two things were out of place, and they were sitting next to each other on the couch directly across from Esme. As I had suspected before, I did not know who the woman sitting on the couch was. The little girl curled up asleep beside her, however…

"Oh, Bella, you're here." Esme said suddenly, standing up and gesturing me closer. "Ms. Nivell, my daughter-in-law, Bella Cullen. Bella, this is Ms. Nivell. She…well, she'll tell you why she's here." She hesitated, as if unsure, then said, "I'll be upstairs, if you need anything."

I nodded as Esme walked away, graceful as ever. A quick glance of the room told me that none of the other Cullens were present, save for my daughter and my husband, both of whom had followed me out of the kitchen. As I approached the couch, Ms. Nivell held out a hand.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Cullen." She told me as she shook my hand.

"Call me Bella." I said automatically as I sat down in Esme's recently vacated spot. "It's nice to meet you as well…Ms. Nivell, was it?"

Ms. Nivell nodded, and then sat down as well. Edward sat down next to me on the couch, and Renesmee sat down a bit away from him.

"This is my husband, Edward, and our daughter, Renesmee." I added, nodding at each of them in turn as I introduced them. Ms. Nivell gave each of them a curt nod. "So, what can I do for you today?"

"I—" She began, but instantly cut off, as if she were unsure how to begin. "I'm not entirely sure how to say this, but I'm not sure if you'd heard."

"About?" I questioned as she, again, hesitated.

"Your late cousin Kate's husband; Anthony." Ms. Nivell responded. "He died, about two and a half weeks ago."

My eyes widened with shock at this. "Anthony? How? Was it an accident like Kate's?"

"No." Ms. Nivell said shortly. "The doctor said Anthony had given up. He'd been seeing a therapist since his wife's death, but all of the deaths in his family in the past few years seemed to have finally gotten to him. Anthony still had Emma," She nodded at the sleeping girl beside her, "But he just gave up, in the end."

Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulder comfortingly. I hadn't known Anthony very well, but he had been the center of my cousin's world from the moment she met him, and she told me just that when he proposed to her. The first time I met him was at their wedding, but that was during a period of my human life I had done my best to block out; when Edward had left me for those few, terrible months. Kate hadn't made it to my wedding, because she had been quite pregnant with Emma at the time, and therefore Anthony hadn't come either. I'd done my best to visit her after that, but becoming an immortal vampire had sort of changed my plans a bit. I'd gone to see her on my own the day before last Christmas, but a week later she had died in a car crash. The last time I had seen both Anthony and Emma was at Kate's funeral in January. And now Anthony was dead, too.

"You were Kate's closest living relative," Ms. Nivell continued. "And Anthony didn't have any relatives, or a will for that matter. Kate did, however, and in the event of her husband's death, everything was to go to you, Bella." She paused here. "Including custody of her daughter."

My eyes automatically traveled to the girl on the couch. And as I did so, the little girl began to stir from her sleep. She stretched, and then sat up. Her eyes widened with shock at the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Emma, dear," Ms. Nivell said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, "You fell asleep in the car. Do you remember how we talked about you coming to live with your mom's cousin? You remember Bella, don't you, dear?"

Slowly, Emma's head turned to face me, and she slowly nodded. But as she did so, Edward's arm stiffened around my shoulder. I shot a glance at him out of the corner of my eye, and there was a look of disbelief on his face.

"You visited me and Mommy and Daddy right before Christmas." Emma said, both her face and voice somber, drawing my attention away from my husband and back to her. "And you came to my Mommy's funeral a few weeks after that."

"That's right." I said, trying to give her a smile. This wasn't the happy little girl I remembered…far from it, in fact. But the loss of both of her parents in so short of a time span was bound to have some effect on her.

"I was speaking with your mother-in-law before," Ms. Nivell began, directing her attention back to me again, "And she said you don't live here with the rest of the family?"

"No." I shook my head. "We have a cottage on the property a bit into the woods behind the house." I nodded my head in the direction of our cottage as I spoke.

"And you'll have suitable accommodations for Emma, here, in your cottage?" Ms. Nivell continued.

I nodded this time. "We still have most of Renesmee's things from when she was younger."

Now it was Ms. Nivell who nodded. "There's also the matter of all of Anthony and Kate's possessions, and their house."

"My house." Emma said suddenly. "It's my house, and I won't leave it. I want to go back to my house; I left all of my toys and my friends there."

"Of course we'll go back." I said quickly. "But won't it be fun to stay with us for a while? You can be Renesmee's friend." I nodded in my daughter's direction. "She doesn't have many friends here and she doesn't really have anyone to play with."

"That sounds like fun." Renesmee jumped in quickly. "I get so lonely with just my mo—uncle to play with." She amended quickly. "He doesn't know very many games. And we can share a room."

"I think that sounds great." Ms. Nivell said. "What do you think Em? Will you give it a try? Your mommy and daddy wanted you to spend some time with your cousins."

"I guess…" Emma said slowly, with a small sigh. "There's nothing else…"

I looked at the young girl with concern as Ms. Nivell went on about the paperwork that we had to fill out to legally adopt Emma. I filed all of it away in a corner of my brain, but continued to gaze at my cousin's unhappy little girl. She had been through so many hardships already in her short life. She seemed to be holding up well, but the way she acted was far beyond her six short years…Even Renesmee, who was technically the same age, but much more mature mentally, had never acted so serious in her entire life.

My gaze shifted back to Ms. Nivell as she was finishing speaking.

"—I'll be checking in with you in a few weeks or so, just to see how things are going." She was saying as she stood up from her seat on the couch. Almost automatically, I rose at the same time, leaving Edward behind sitting on the couch as he'd been doing for quite some time now. Come to think of it, Renesmee had said more than he had…he hadn't even said anything. That was unusual for him; I quickly resolved to ask him about it later.

"Thank you for all your help, Ms. Nivell," I said, as we walked to the front door. "I'll make sure we take good care of Emma."

"Good." She murmured. She glanced back at where Emma was still sitting on the couch, Renesmee trying to engage her in conversation, and Edward…just sitting there. "I'm worried about her." She said suddenly, turning back to face me. "I've been with her almost constantly for the past two and a half weeks, and I've never seen a more somber child; it's unnatural." Apparently I wasn't the only one who'd noticed. "The loss of both of her parents has hit that poor girl hard."

"We'll do the best we can." I said affirmatively.

"That's all anyone could ask for." Ms. Nivell replied. She held out her hand, and I shook it. "It's been nice meeting you, Mrs. Cullen, especially under the circumstances."

"You as well." I replied.

Ms. Nivell just nodded, and I stood in the doorway, safely out of the sun as she walked from the house to her car and then drove away. Once she was gone I turned back to survey the scene before me. They were all much the same as they had been mere moments previously. Renesmee was still unsuccessfully trying to find a topic that would interest Emma, who appeared to just be staring out of the glass wall that was the back of the house. As for Edward, he remained in the position he had been in since…since Emma had woken up.

I frowned slightly to myself as I looked at my husband. Never had I known him to remain so still for so long; to fit in with the rest of society, we vampires had to play the part of normal humans perfectly, which Edward was not doing successfully now, not that anyone else had appeared to notice his somewhat bizarre behavior. A blurred memory from when I had been a human crept to the front of my mind just then. I had seen Edward like this once before. Just once.

When I had first figured out the impossible—that I was actually pregnant with a vampire's child, Edward had frozen, just like he was now, in utter shock and disbelief. However, knowing that gave me no help now. I was quite positive that not a single person in this room could be pregnant…but something had shocked Edward to his very core. Something had happened during my conversation with Ms. Nivell that had rocked Edward's very foundations, and that I had missed. The only problem was, what exactly was it that had shocked him so?


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Getting Emma back to our cottage was barely a challenge at all. She seemed willing to follow Renesmee's lead over the small bridge that had appeared over the river while we had been speaking with Ms. Nivell, most likely courtesy of Emmett and Jasper, and then along the path to the cottage. However, I noticed as Edward and I walked side-by-side that Emma made sure to stay as far away from him as she could. I took note of the odd behavior, but could not think of any cause for it.

Once we got to the cottage, Renesmee immediately offered to show Emma the room that would now belong to both of them. Thanking her silently for leaving me along with Edward, I turned back to where my husband at stopped in the doorway. His face still showed disbelief, and I still didn't know why.

"Edward?" I asked him, slowly advancing towards him. "Are you alright?"

Slowly, his eyes shifted so that they were looking towards me, rather than the doorway through which Emma and Renesmee had disappeared.

"What's Emma's last name?" Edward questioned, throwing me off guard. I had no idea where he was going with this.

"Er...Adams." I said slowly. My cousin Kate had gotten married when I was still human, during a period in my life I didn't like to remember, and I had always had trouble remembering her new last name then. So when I became a vampire, the human memory of not knowing that name had stuck with me. "Why?"

Edward frowned. "And her middle name?" He continued, not answering my question.

"Elizabeth." I answered promptly. The first I had heard about her had been after I'd become a vampire, so that name came easily to mind. "Emma Elizabeth Adams."

"Masen." Edward said so softly that I almost missed it.

"What?" I inquired.

"Masen." Edward said in a voice that was just the tiniest bit louder. "It was _Masen_."

"What was?" I asked him.

"Her name." Edward said flatly. "Her last name was Masen: Emma Elizabeth Masen."

I was silent for a moment. I knew Edward's last name as a human had been Masen, but I was quite positive he'd never been married; he'd told me as much many times. And I knew his mother's name was Elizabeth, not Emma Elizabeth, so he couldn't be talking about her. But Edward had never mentioned anyone else from his human past…to me, at least.

"Who is she?" I asked him then.

"She's my sister." He whispered his eyes unreadable. "At least, she was. I expect she died a long time ago."

"You had a sister?" I said slowly.

Edward nodded, his eyes drifting back to the doorway leading to the bedrooms, where I could faintly make out the noise of Renesmee and Emma talking quietly to each other. If I had focused harder, I would have been able to make out their entire conversation.

"She was eleven years younger than me; only six when…we died." He replied.

"What happened to her?" I questioned. He'd never mentioned her to me in his few stories about his human life.

At my question, Edward merely shrugged. "I never found out. They didn't have the best record-keeping system back then; it was a struggle to even find a record of her birth, when I searched for it years later. I guess I always assumed that she had died, too. My parents and I—and the rest of the city—were so sick it would be a miracle if she hadn't caught the flu as well." He paused, not for breath but for the rare display of such emotion. Jasper would not be very happy if he were here with us now. "I knew I couldn't look for her after I became a vampire. She was so young, and if she was still alive they'd have told her that I was dead…she wouldn't have understood, and I wouldn't have been able to watch my little sister grow up from afar."

I nodded, understanding perfectly his predicament.

It has been so hard for me, these past six years to keep away from visiting Renee. Enough time hasn't passed to explain my drastically different appearance to her. She isn't very happy with my excuse that Edward and I are travelling the world, but at the same time she keeps saying that that's what being young is for. I write her constantly, though, and she gets the occasional phone call. It's only been very recently that I've told her about Renesmee, however, now that her growth has slowed somewhat.

"I don't know what happened to her." Edward repeated quietly. "But she obviously didn't die."

"Why would you think that?" I questioned, taken aback.

"Because of Emma." He said shortly. "Emma…she looks just like my sister did; they could be twins, except for the age difference." He paused again, thoughtful. "She'd be one hundred, this year. Maybe…" The he shook his head. "It's been too long. Emma was always a tough kid, but there's no way she'd still be alive now." A reminiscent smile appeared on his face. "She always told me that she'd never get wrinkles like Grandmother had; she didn't want to scare people."

"You don't know that the two of them are related for sure, Edward." I said cautiously. "For all you know, they could just look like each other—it is possible."

Edward again turned his eyes towards me, and the expression I read in them made my heart break. I took a few steps forward, and wrapped my arms around my husband.

"We'll go tomorrow." I whispered in to his ear. "We'll go to their house; they're bound to have at least some sort of old family documentation lying around."

"And it will make Emma happy." Edward added in.

With the purpose of not sticking out too much, the four of us took Edward's old Volvo to Kate and Anthony's house in Seattle the following day. As Edward had predicted, Emma was overjoyed when she found out that we were visiting her house. I had been planning on letting Renesmee stay home—I could really see how much she was dying to see Jake, though she hid it well.

But Emma had other plans, it turned out. She wanted to return Renesmee's favor and show the older girl her room. Without my even noticing, Emma had swiftly adopted Renesmee as an older sister. It was only a matter of time until she met and fell in love with Alice and Rosalie, too. Right this instant, however, Emma was much too in love with the only home she had ever known to be thinking about anyone else…other than Renesmee, of course.

"—And we used to have a pet kitty," Emma was telling Renesmee as we made our way up to the front door, "But daddy said we had to get rid of it, because it was making mommy feel bad all the time. So then they bought me a goldfish." Here she sighed dramatically. "But I came home from kindergarten one day, and daddy said Goldie ran away." She gestured Renesmee closer, as if she wanted to tell the older girl a secret. Renesmee obligingly bent down so that she was at Emma's level. "Daddy was being silly though—he should have known that Goldie can't run, she must have swimmed away."

I smiled to myself as I fit the key Ms. Nivell had given me yesterday into the door, listening to Emma speaking behind me. Gone, apparently, was the morose girl of the previous day. I knew it was only temporary—the home she had shared with her parents was bound to remind her of things—but I relished the time Emma could spend just being a happy little girl, like she was meant to.

I had the door open in no time, and Emma was through it in a flash, happy to be home once more, if only for a short while. Renesmee stayed beside me as both Emma and Edward disappeared into the house, the latter in a much quieter manner.

"Momma," She began, "How long do you suppose we're going to be staying?"

I looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"No reason." She said swiftly. "It's just been really hectic coming home, and I wanted some time to relax…you know, get readjusted to this time zone again…" She trailed off.

"So that you can stay up all night with Jacob." I finished for her, a small smile still upon my face.

"Maybe." Renesmee said lightly. "And it's not as if you wouldn't be able to keep an eye on me for every second of it, either."

"I believe," I said, taking a few steps into the house I had visited upon a few happier occasions, "That when you're referring to me, the person you really mean to talk about is your father."

"Ah, that's definitely a possibility." Renesmee said shortly.

"I'm sure it is." I said with a knowing smile. "But don't worry, you're going to have plenty of time to spend with Jake, now. What with having Emma around now, I don't think we're going to be moving around as much. At least, not all ten of us; we'd attract too much attention."

"And Emma doesn't know." Renesmee added.

I nodded. "I'm sure, in time, we'll be able to trust her with the secret, but it's too soon for her to find out, she's still so young. In fact," I continued, my tone brightening considerably, "She's so young, that she'll have to attend school this fall." I sighed, inwardly enjoying the expression that crossed my daughter's face as I spoke. "Only one of many people going to school this fall."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get the point." Renesmee said, waving her arm. "Oh, what do you know, I think I hear Emma calling me, right now. She wanted to show me her room." She gave me a very bright and very fake smile as she quickly backed away from me. "I'll be seeing you, Momma." And in the blink of an eye, she had gone, almost as fast as her father had.

With a small chuckle at her determination not to attend school, I set off into the house, aimlessly wandering the rooms, looking for a sign that Edward had been there. I made my way throughout the entire house, before I finally found him digging through boxes that had been precariously labeled and stacked into rows in the attic at the top of the house.

"Find anything yet?" I asked as I silently joined him in his apparently fruitless search.

Edward shook his head. "This is all stuff your cousin and her husband must have saved from their own childhoods. I thought this would be a good place to start, but I can't find anything."

"I'll help you." I told him. "You probably don't need to go through all of the boxes, though. From what Kate told me, Anthony was nuts about labeling everything."

"Who?" Edward asked sharply.

"Anthony." I repeated. "You know: Kate's husband, Emma's father."

"His name was Anthony…" Edward trailed off. "Anthony what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know that one. I always had a hard enough time actually remembering what his last name was, let alone his middle name."

"Anthony and Emma Elizabeth." Edward said ponderingly, his eyes now roving over the piles of boxes, and the various labels they carried. Most said A.A. and K.S. so neither of us was even bothering to look through those, as they obviously held Anthony and Kate's things.

"Look at this." I said suddenly, catching sight of a box with different markings.

"Personal affects?" Edward said, reading the side of the box.

Again I shrugged, and then opened the lid. Inside were various random items that didn't seem to have any relationship to each other as a whole. In fact, the box contained what would appear to be three separate sets of what one might carry on their person day-to-day.

"Personal affects." I repeated. I reached my hand into the box and pulled out an official-looking envelope. I opened the envelope and pulled out three separate pieces of paper. "They're death certificates." I said slowly. One by one I handed them to Edward.

"Elizabeth E. Adams, Edward Adams, and…Helen Adams." Edward read aloud. "Who are these people?"

"E. Adams." I read aloud from another box. Pulling that one to the top of the pile, I opened it to find it full of official documents. Sitting right on top of the pile was a birth certificate for more than seventy years previously. "Born Elizabeth Erikson in Chicago, 1936. Her parents were—actually her father's name has completely faded away. But the mother's name is Emma M. Erikson."

"M?" Edward repeated his eyes wide. "Bella, that's her! It's Emma it has to be! If this Elizabeth woman's middle initial stood for her middle name then so does Emma's. We found her Bella!"

"We found someone who might be her daughter." I corrected. "And quite possibly her grandson, too. Now we have to find Emma, herself."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Throughout her entire life (all six years of it) Renesmee had never once wished for a sibling or addition to her family of any sort. She had always been perfectly happy with the way things were. Being so special and loved, and of course, always a little girl in the eyes of her family, and therefore quite spoiled, never wanting for anything.

But now, as little Emma showed Renesmee all around her room, basically getting her up to speed on everything that had ever happened in her life up to that point, the older girl came to a sudden realization. Physically, Renesmee was about fifteen years old. Mentally, she was older than that, quite a bit older. But in all technicalities, Renesmee was almost the exact same age as the girl whose room she was being shown. And what Renesmee realized was that she liked having the younger girl around her.

Already in less than twenty-four hours Emma had attached herself firmly to Renesmee's side, and Renesmee had found out that she didn't mind that at all. In fact, she thought she would quite like having the role of older sister. It was just one of those things she hadn't ever thought about up to this point, because it was a situation she had never believed it would be possible for her to be in.

"Do you like your school?" Emma asked, clutching what looked like a framed class picture to her chest.

"I—" Renesmee did not immediately respond, caught off-guard and unsure of what to say. She knew Emma would most definitely be attending school this fall, and Renesmee didn't even want to think of what her parents would say to her if she somehow influenced Emma to not want to go school, just like Renesmee herself. "I've never gone to school." She finally said. "My dad home-schooled me. We moved around a lot, so there wasn't really a chance for me to go to real school."

"Oh." Emma said softly. She offered the frame in her arms to Renesmee. "I've only gone to pre-school and kindergarten, but I liked it so much. School was always so much fun…I'm going to miss all of my friends there."

"You'll make new friends in no time." Renesmee said, looking at the group picture of Emma's kindergarten class. Emma was right in the middle, a huge smile on her face that Renesmee knew she wouldn't be seeing for quite some time, still. "I'm sure you'll like Forks."

"Do you like Forks?" Emma asked her.

Renesmee opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. She couldn't really give Emma an honest answer.

"I really haven't spent much time in Forks." Renesmee replied slowly. "We only go back there every so often because my grandpa lives there."

A small frown appeared on Emma's face as Renesmee spoke. "Does this mean we aren't going to be living in the same place all the time? I'm going to have to keep leaving?"

"I don't know." Renesmee said quickly, putting the picture down on the shelf nearest to her and taking a few steps forward and crouching down so that she was at eye-level with Emma. "But I know that if you want to stay then dad and momma are going to make sure we can stay for as long as possible, alright?"

"OK." Emma said slowly. But then she frowned again. "Where did your mommy and daddy go? They followed us into my house, didn't they?" Suddenly, she seemed to become very panicked. "Did we lose your parents? Are they gone? We need to find them!"

Without another word, she ran from the room and started opening and shutting doors in the hallways, moving on to the next one when she didn't find what she was looking for.

"They might be in the attic." Renesmee suggested as Emma made her frantic search of the floor.

Emma came to a halt when Renesmee spoke, and turned to face the girl with an almost sheepish expression upon her face, it looked a bit out of place on the six-year-old.

"Will you come with me?" She asked Renesmee. "The attic scares me."

Renesmee smiled; Emma really did trust her. Together, the two girls made their way through the only door Emma hadn't opened and walked up the steps they found on the other side. When they got to the top of the stairs it was to find Edward and I rearranging and re-stacking boxes. We were making a smaller stack of the boxes Edward wanted to take home with us so that he could go through them in more detail, determined to find what had become of his little sister. Due to our superior hearing, we had heard their entire conversation and had known they were coming, and were thus able to make sure we were working at a human pace by the time they had arrived in the doorway.

A small frown creased Emma's face when she saw what we were doing.

"What are you doing with my daddy's boxes?" She asked us suspiciously. While it was quite obvious how very attached Emma was to our daughter, she had yet to warm up as much to either Edward or I.

"We wanted to borrow them." I told the little girl. "Would that be alright with you? I know we should have asked you first, before we started looking at them. They are yours now after all."

"Why do you want them?" Emma asked me.

I paused for just a split second, deciding almost immediately that I might as well as tell her a small portion of the truth.

"Edward thinks he might know who your Great-Great-Grandmother was." I told her.

Emma just looked confused. "My who?"

"Your grandmother's grandmother." This was a bit difficult to explain to a six-year-old. Edward just stood there, almost as if the little girl mesmerized him. The affect she clearly had on him astounded me very much.

Emma just stared at me for a few seconds. Then she spoke.

"Do you mean Grandma Emma, who mommy and daddy named me after?" She finally asked me. And as she spoke I heard Edward's sharp intake of breath from behind me.

"That could be her." I said slowly. "We're looking for a woman named Emma."

"But how would you know Grandma Emma?" Emma was now directing her question in Edward's direction. "Grandma Emma died before I was born; she was very old."

"She'd be a distant relative of mine." Edward replied. As the two spoke I had the random realization that this was the very first direct exchange between the two of them since Emma had come into our lives just the day before. Edward opened his mouth to continue, but no sound came out. The expression upon his face said that he wanted to ask a question, but he clearly thought that the answer was going to be no. These actions confused me greatly.

"Emma," Edward finally began, "Would it be alright with you if I took some of your daddy's boxes home with us so that I could look at them? I only want to see if your Grandma Emma is the same person I'm looking for."

Emma just shrugged in response to his question. "I can't even read what anything in there says, so I guess you could have them. And it wasn't against any of daddy's rules to touch them, so you won't get in trouble."

Edward smiled at the little girl, and after a very long moment, Emma gave him a small smile in return. I'd imagine it was the first time in quite a while that she'd smiled at all.

Edward glanced at the watch on his wrist and announced that it was probably about time that we should be getting back to Forks. Emma's face fell at this pronouncement, but she didn't say anything. For being such a young girl, and for wanting so desperately to stay in the home she had shared with parents whom she had loved, she understand that that wasn't possible anymore. It was a sad realization, but fact.

After that quick glance at his watch, Edward began picking up boxes to carry down to the car. As I went to help him, Renesmee attempted to lead Emma back down the stairs, but the little girl remained where she was standing, staring intently at Edward.

"Edward?" Emma asked slowly.

"Yes?"

"If my Grandma Emma is the same person that you're looking for does that mean that you're my family?"

Again, Edward was silent for a moment, shorter this time, though. Then, he smiled at the girl before him one more time.

"Yes, Emma." He finally said. "If they're the same person, then you and I are definitely family."

**a/n-just to clear things up, before anyone asks, Emma and Bella ARE related. Emma's mom was Bella's cousin. as for Edward and Emma...that remains to be fully determined...**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

In the end, the ride back to Forks from Emma's house in Seattle seemed to take a much shorter amount of time to the two girls in the backseat. Of course, that was most likely due to the fact that both of them fell asleep not too long after they had gotten into the car after 'helping' Edward load all of the boxes into the trunk.

When I saw the smirk on Edward's face as he imperceptably nodded back in our daughter's direction, I could tell it was taking every ounce of Renesmee's willpower to remain silent as we walked along the path in the woods behind the large white house. However, once we were back in the cottage, she turned to me with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Please can I go, Momma?" She begged. "I need to go see Jacob."

Emma had still been a bit sleepy from her nap in the car, but as Renesmee spoke she turned to look at the older girl.

"Who's Jacob?" She asked, looking innocently at Renesmee. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No, silly." Renesmee said with a laugh. "He's my best friend. And I haven't seen him in a very long time."

"Why not?" Emma wanted to know.

"Well…" Renesmee said uneasily, unsure of what to say to the little girl without having to explain the 'why' of everything.

"We haven't spent much time here, recently." I jumped in, capturing Emma's attention at once. "Do you know where England is?" Emma thought about it for a moment then nodded. "Well, we've been living there ever since just after Christmas. That was a long time ago, and Renesmee hasn't seen Jacob since then, so she misses him a lot."

"Just like I miss my friends?" Emma asked, speaking again to Renesmee.

"Yeah, I guess so." Renesmee replied.

Emma turned back to look at me, looking very serious. "I think you should let her go see her boyfriend." She told me, sounding very mature for her age. "If she hasn't seen him in that long."

Renesmee gave Emma a glare, but her lips twisted up into a small smile. "He's not my boyfriend."

Emma just rolled her eyes. "O.K."

I merely laughed at the pair's antics, before directing my attention towards my daughter again.

"If you want to go see Jacob, then you can." I told Renesmee. "I'm sure you know the fight he's going to pick with your father if he finds out you've been back for the past day and a half without him knowing about it."

"You're right." Renesmee said, still smiling. "I wouldn't want him to hurt Daddy."

"I heard that!" Edward's voice called from our bedroom, where he had brought all of the boxes that had come from Emma's attic. "Let him try...Again!"

I laughed again, and nodded to Renesmee.

"You go ahead," I said, "Have fun. And tell Jacob 'hi' from the rest of us."

Renesmee nodded and began making her way to the front door. As she did so, I turned to Emma.

"I guess that just leaves you and me." I told the little girl. "What do you say we have some fun?"

Emma just looked at me doubtfully, and I could see the shyness creeping up again in the little girl. I suppose it couldn't be helped, but there was no other way to get the young girl to warm up to any of us than to spend some time with us, starting with me. Of course, that might be helped with Renesmee around since the pair of six-year-olds had grown so close in the past twenty-four hours, but I wasn't about to hold my daughter back from seeing the werewolf that was her best friend any longer.

"Momma?" A voice said from behind me. And, with a slight start, I realized that Renesmee was still standing there, one hand on the doorknob. "Is your heart really and truly set on hanging out with Emma this afternoon?"

"No." I said slowly. "Why, did you have something in mind?"

"Well," Renesmee began, "I happen to know this guy who hangs out with Jacob sometimes. And there's always this little girl hanging around with him, and I know he loves having her around, but I was thinking she might want to make another friend her age. And maybe Emma would like to make a new friend here, too?"

Emma's face immediately brightened at this pronouncement. "A friend? Really? I'd love a friend!"

Renesmee glanced at me. When I gave the most imperceptible of nods, she then back towards Emma and held out a hand. "Well, come on, then. I think if we go now, we might make it in time for their second lunch of the day."

Emma giggled at this, and placed her small hand in Renesmee's larger one. "Their second lunch? That's just silly. You can't eat two lunches."

Renesmee rose an eyebrow as they began walking out of the door. "Are you sure about that? You should see all of the food Jacob and his friends manage to eat. They're like animals sometimes!"

Emma giggled again.

I smiled at the pair of them as I closed the door behind them. For now, I'd leave getting to know Emma to another day. She at least got along very well with Renesmee, and friends close to her own age were much more important in the long run.

Still smiling, I made my way to the bedroom I share with my husband, to find him sitting in the middle of the floor, papers spread all around him.

"Find anything yet?" I asked after a moment, when he didn't immediately look up to acknowledge my presence.

Slowly, he looked up to meet my gaze, a smile upon his face to match mine.

"I think so." Edward replied. "All of these papers go several generations back. And, as far as I can tell, Emma's Great-great Grandmother was a woman named Emma Erikson. Or, as it gives her name on this adoption certificate: Emma Masen."

"Adoption certificate?" I questioned, making my way through the piles of paper swiftly without disturbing them, so that I was crouching beside my husband, looking over his shoulder to read the paper he held in his hand.

Edward nodded, the smallest of frowns visible between his brows. "After our pa—After we died, my sister would have been sent to an orphanage; we had no other family to take her in."

"Almost like Emma, now." I whispered softly.

"My sister was one of the lucky ones: she managed to get out of the orphanage and get adopted." At this Edward's frown deepened just the slightest bit. "Of course, I _say_ lucky, but I have no idea how that adopted family treated her, or how she got along with them after just losing the only family she knew."

"She sounded like a tough little kid." I said comfortingly, putting an arm around his shoulders. "And as we clearly have evidence of, she obviously survived."

Edward smiled grimly.

"What happened after she was adopted?" I asked then, hoping to get his mind moving towards what happened next in his sister's life, and hopefully away from all of the things he would never find out about her.

"I can't tell much." Edward admitted. He held up another piece of paper now, and I could see that it was a marriage certificate this time. "But she got married at the height of the Great Depression, so I'm guessing her adoptive family wasn't too badly off. At least, that's what I'm assuming."

Bella nodded. "That'll be about the time Rosalie became a Cullen, wouldn't it?"

Edward nodded, in answer to her question. "Emma had a daughter in 1936. I'm almost positive that that's her only child."

"What was her name?" I asked now.

"Elizabeth." Edward said softly. "Probably after my mother. And Elizabeth had a son of her own in the 50's." His expression darkened just the slightest bit as he continued. "She named him Edward, after the uncle that died years before she was born."

"I think it's a nice tribute to you." I stated, squeezing his shoulders with the arm that was still wrapped around them. "And your parents as well, if Elizabeth herself was named after your mother. So, Edward must have had a child as well?"

Again, Edward nodded. "Anthony Edward, Emma's father, was born in the mid-80's."

I hesitated for a fraction of a second, contemplating whether or not to ask the question I knew would really pain him to answer, but quickly deciding to do so.

"And your sister Emma was still around then?" I questioned, then rolled my eyes. "Not that that's the most eloquent or sensitive way to put it…"

Edward's lips quirked upwards in the smallest of smiles at that. His face quickly became serious once again, however.

"Emma was still alive and going strong when she became a great-grandmother." He told me. "But she's dead now. She actually died just a short while before I met you." He looked a bit morosely at the paper spread around him, then. "Her daughter, grandson, and granddaughter-in-law all died not too long after her in a fire, just a few months before Emma was born."

"When we were preparing for the big battle against Victoria and her army." I said. I frowned, and shut my eyes tightly, my face screwed as I tried to remember something long since forgotten. "All of those human memories are so distant and foggy now," I admitted, "But I think I recall something about that…" I paused momentarily, still trying to remember as clearly as I could. "Yes…I was so worried with the threat of the newborns, and the Volturi, and just about everything that was going on around the time of graduation, that it kind of just fell to the back of my mind when I got Kate's phone call. She was already pregnant by then, and she called me practically hysterical one night to tell me how Anthony's parents and grandmother had died in a fire that burned down their home. That was still in the midst of all of the mysterious deaths and disappearances, which was Victoria creating her army. Kate was so scared that an accident like the fire might happen at her house, or that she or Anthony might end up dead in an alley one day, charred almost beyond recognition."

"What did you do?" Edward asked when I didn't continue, lost in the flood of dim, human memories, which were currently engulfing me.

"I offered a supportive ear to listen." I said, finally opening my eyes, and getting caught up in my husband's gaze. "There wasn't much else I could do. Although, by that time you lot already suspected Vampire's in Seattle, so I knew enough to encourage her and Anthony to take a nice long vacation somewhere far away from Seattle as soon as the funerals were over. They did just that, and the next time I talked to either of them was after I was changed." I smiled, remembering clearly now. "Charlie was the one who first told me that Kate had had her baby." I smiled a bit wider at mt husband now. "And he told me that they named her after her grandmothers."

"Emma Elizabeth." Edward said softly. "Elizabeth Masen. Emma Elizabeth Erikson. Elizabeth Adams."

"And don't you go forgetting that her father and grandfather both got their names from you." I reminded him. "I know you didn't like to do it often, but I'm sure you thought of your sister over the past ninety years. And now you know that she thought about you, too, and passed her memories of you onto her children and grandchildren."

"And great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren." Edward continued for me. He looked up at me. "But now that we're the ones raising Emma, do you think we could somehow influence her to pick out more original names for her future children? It's not that I don't like my name, but it's a bit over-used in that family."

I laughed. "Don't worry, we have quite a few years to worry about that, still."

"We had better." Edward stated.

* * *

**_Third Person POV_**

* * *

Meanwhile, Renesmee and Emma had opted for the more subtle travel option of walking to La Push, rather than being driven there, which had been offered numerous times by Renesmee's various family members, as the duo walked past the white house. More than half an hour later, they were finally in the homestretch, with just the town on the reservation to walk through still, although Renesmee was the only one still walking. Emma had long since given up, and was now comfortably being carried on Renesmee's back. Surprisingly to Renesmee, they were still walking alone. She supposed the pack hadn't yet caught whiff of the returned vampires. And, oblivious to the fact that the sole threat to their existence had moved back into the area, the werewolves probably weren't running as many patrols as they had before.

"Are you sure she's going to like me?" Emma asked Renesmee for what certainly wasn't the first time on their little journey.

"Of course she will." Renesmee said confidently. "Claire is a very nice girl. And she's only just a little bit older than you; I think she's eight now."

"I'm going to be seven soon, you know." Emma informed Renesmee.

"Are you really?" Renesmee asked. "When?"

"Um…" Emma thought about it for a moment. "In another year, still."

Renesmee laughed. "You're right, that's not long at all."

"Are we there yet?" Emma asked, again not for the first time that day.

"Almost." Renesmee answered, yet again.

"You know," Emma said, sounding very mature for her age, "I think that the next time we have to go to your boyfriend's house to visit him, we should really have someone drive us there. It's way too far to walk."

"I'm still walking, aren't I?" Renesmee asked the little girl. "I haven't fallen over yet from exhaustion. And I didn't hear you complaining once I started carrying you, did I?"

Emma just giggled softly behind Renesmee's ear. As she did so, Renesmee suddenly stopped.

"Here we are." She announced, nodding at the small house before them; the home of Billy and Jacob Black.

"Is your boyfriend very short?" Emma asked, looking at the house before them.

"Nope, not at all." Renesmee replied. "And how many times do I have to tell you that he's not my boyfriend?"

"But he just _has_ to be your boyfriend." Emma said, as if this was obvious.

"Why is that?" Renesmee wanted to know, as she made her way up to the front porch, Emma still light as a feather upon her back.

"Because he just has to be." Emma said as way of an answer.

Renesmee just shook her head slightly and, clutching the young girl to her back with just one hand, reached her other hand out and knocked on the wooden door.

"Coming!" The familiar voice of Billy Black called from within.

Without having to strain her ears, Renesmee heard the wheels of his wheelchair rolling quickly in the direction of the front door a moment later. It must have been a commercial break from whatever game he was watching.

The door was pulled open almost immediately, and Billy first looked shocked to see Renesmee standing on his front porch. His initial look of shock was quickly replaced with one of overall joy, however, as a wide grin broke out across his features.

"Hey Billy." Renesmee said with an answering smile. "Is Jacob around?"

"He went down to the beach with Quil and Claire." Billy replied. "But Paul and Rachel are out back if you want me to have Paul give him call?"

"No, that's okay." Renesmee replied. "We can just head down there."

At the word 'we' Billy's eyebrows rose. Renesmee turned slightly so that Emma was more visible, clinging as she was, to Renesmee's back.

"This is my cousin, Emma, Billy." Renesmee explained. "She lives with us now."

"Does she, really?" Billy asked, eyebrows still raised. "Your cousin, you said?"

Renesmee gave him a knowing look. "You know she's too young; it's against the rules. Her mother was Momma's cousin." She paused, unsure if she should continue with Emma right there. The decision was taken out of her hands, however, when Emma continued for her.

"My mommy and daddy died." She informed Billy. "So now Renesmee is my big sister and I live with her and her mommy and daddy."

"Oh, I see." Billy said. The sound of whistles could be heard in the background of the house, coming from the television, no doubt. Billy's gaze seemed to unwillingly wander in that direction.

Renesmee smiled. "We'll let you get back to your game, Billy." She said. "We'll go down to the beach to find Jacob, but I'm sure we'll see you later."

"Bye Billy!" Emma called out, waving a small hand in goodbye as Renesmee turned and walked back down the porch.

Billy waved back before turning his wheelchair around and quickly wheeling himself back to his t.v. set.

Renesmee made short work of walking down to beach, cutting through behind the Black home to say hello to Rachel and Paul, who grinned conspiratorially at her.

"Don't worry!" He called after Renesmee as she continued walking. "I promise to stay put until you find him!"

Once they reached the main beach, they found it rather crowded with tourists taking advantage of the rare sunny day in the Olympic Peninsula.

"It's going to take forever to find your boyfriend, isn't it?" Emma asked wearily, sounding very much as if riding on Renesmee's back for the past half-hour had greatly tired her out.

Renesmee chuckled slightly. "I'll tell you what, Emma, I'm going to make you a little deal."

"About what?" Emma asked, as Renesmee set off down the beach.

"If Jacob ever does become my boyfriend, which I'm really doubting is ever going to happen," Renesmee began, "Then I'll give you five dollars."

"Five whole dollars?" Emma asked. Renesmee knew without looking that her eyes would be wide with excitement. "All for me?"

"Yep."

"O.K." Emma agreed happily. She squirmed on Renesmee's back. "Can I get down? I wanna run. Being carried everywhere is boring."

Renesmee set the little girl down, and no sooner had her feet touched the sand, then she was off. Renesmee easily kept up with her as she made her way to a less crowded part of the beach. No sooner had she looked away for just a moment, to see if Jacob, Quil, or Claire were down here, then Renesmee heard sudden cry of pain that she quickly identified as Emma's. She looked ahead of herself a few feet, to see Emma splayed on the ground as if she had run into something. Quickly, Renesmee ran over to the little girl.

"You're okay, Emma." Renesmee said swiftly, kneeling down and pulling Emma into her lap. She brushed some of the sand off of her legs. "You're going to be just fine, but what happened to you?"

"I ran into him." Emma said, sounding slightly cross.

"Who?" Renesmee asked.

Emma pointed in front of them, and Renesmee looked up to meet a warm pair of dark eyes, set in a familiar face.

"Jacob." She said.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_**Third Person POV**_

"Nessie?" Jacob said, disbelievingly, practically falling down onto his knees so that he now on the same level as Renesmee and Emma. "Is that you?"

"Well, duh." Renesmee replied, rolling her eyes. "Of course it's me, silly. Who else would I be?"

A wide grin broke out across Jacob's face, and Renesmee had a sudden feeling that it was the first time in a long while that he had done so.

"When did you get home?" He made as if to hug her, but then stopped when he remembered the little girl in her arms. He gave her a questioning look. "And how good are your stories this time?"

"Jacob," Renesmee began, "I'd like you to meet my cousin, Emma. Emma, this giant brick wall that you ran into is my friend Jacob."

Emma frowned at the large young man before them.

"_This_ is Jacob?" She asked, not looking entirely pleased with the news. Her frowned seemed to deepen as she looked from Renesmee to Jacob and then back to Renesmee again. "He's much too old for you." She finally announced.

Jacob rose an eyebrow at the little girl.

"And how old are you?" He asked her.

"Six." She replied promptly. "And in a year I'll be seven. How old are you?" She challenged him suddenly.

"Twenty-two." Jacob said, with narrow eyes.

"And you?" She was looking at Renesmee now.

"Uh…fifteen." Renesmee said slowly.

"Good grief." Emma said, shaking her head. She looked back to Jacob. "Is Claire here? Renesmee said she'd be a nice friend for me, and I think I need to talk to someone closer to my own age and let all of you old people talk to each other."

Jacob looked as if he was trying very hard not to laugh at what she was saying. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

"She's down by the water with Quil." He said slowly, still trying to hold in his laughter. Emma just looked at him with concern. "But I'll warn you now, you might not like Quil either; he's as old as I am."

Emma just sighed and shook her head. At the same time, though, she stood up from Renesmee's lap and ran as fast as her short legs would allow towards the mismatched-looking pair closer to the water. There, she quickly introduced herself to the dark-haired girl splashing in the water and commenced helping her new friend get the young man with them as wet as possible.

Once she was gone, Jacob was on his feet again in the blink of an eye. He held a hand out to Renesmee and she easily used it to pull herself up. When she, too, was standing, Jacob pulled her into a warm hug.

"I've missed you, Nessie." Jacob said. "You guys were gone way too long, this time. A few days at Christmas really isn't enough time to spend with old friends."

Renesmee grinned at him as they stepped out of their hug. "I've missed you, too, Jake." She replied. "I've been wanting to come home for ages, but Grandpa Carlisle loved it in England. Daddy said he was getting back to his roots."

Jacob just shook his head as the two of them made their way towards Quil, Claire, and Emma at a more leisurely pace. He nodded his head in the direction of where Emma and Claire were happily splashing in the shallow water, Quil hovering over them protectively.

"So, what's her story?" He asked. "Is she really your cousin?"

Renesmee nodded. "Yep. Her mom was Momma's second cousin; the one she went to go visit the day before Christmas, do you remember?"

"Was?" Jacob picked the word out.

"Momma's cousin died just after Christmas." Renesmee replied, a bit somberly. "And Emma's dad died just a few weeks ago, so now she lives with us."

"So much for being an only child for all of eternity." Jacob said, lightening the mood considerably. "Now you're a big sister."

Renesmee smiled. "And I'm going to be the best big sister ever."

"As long as you're not as crazy as my older sisters were." Jacob said with a slight shudder. "The things they did to me…"

Renesmee grinned at him evilly. "I am so telling Rachel you called her crazy."

"You really don't want to do that." Jacob tried to convince her.

"And why is that?" Renesmee challenged him.

"Because then you won't have a best friend anymore." Renesmee gave him a look that said she clearly thought he was losing his mind. "Paul would kill me if he found out I called his wife crazy." Jacob continued at her look. "You wouldn't want me to die, now would you?"

Renesmee sighed dramatically. "No, I suppose not."

They reached the edge of the water just as she spoke. Jacob grinned at her then, matching the evil grin she had given him just moments previously.

"Well, since we've got that all cleared up…" Jacob suddenly swept her up into his arms and sprinted out into the water so that he was soon standing practically waist-deep in it. Renesmee clutched his neck tightly.

"You wouldn't dare." She said, sounding dangerous.

Back in the shallower water, Emma was watching them curiously as Claire yelled at Jacob, egging him on to drop Renesmee. Quil just shook his head at them.

"I wouldn't dare what?" Jacob asked innocently. "I'm not doing anything to you, Nessie."

"If you drop me, I swear I'm going to tell Momma." Renesmee threatened. The sternness of her threat was lost, however, as she was still frantically clutching him as tightly as she could grip him without causing suffocation. "And you know what she's going to think, don't you?"

"Would you care to enlighten me?" Jacob asked, just smiling pleasantly at her.

"She's going to start going on about that whole Loch Ness Monster thing, again." Renesmee warned him. "You know how she gets. She might even attack you again."

"I think I'll risk your mother's wrath." Jacob informed her. And that's when he dropped her into the water.

As soon as she was immersed in the salty water, Renesmee swam as quickly as she could out of Jacob's reach, as he'd attempted to pull her out of the water almost as soon as he dropped her into it. For some reason, or so it seemed to Renesmee, all Werewolves were _way_ too over-protective of some people. As if she didn't already get enough of that from her family of vampires…

When she finally resurfaced, Renesmee was a good ten yards to Jacob's left. His head turned automatically at the sound of her head breaking the surface of the water. She grinned, wiggling her fingers at him.

"I'm still telling Momma!" She called.

"I feel as if my life has been threatened." Jacob replied at a normal level of voice, which Renesmee heard perfectly.

Emma, on the other hand, was as yet unaware of her newfound cousin's excellent hearing.

"Ruh-_nes_-mee!" Emma hollered, from where she was still standing on the beech with Quil and Claire. "I'm _hungry_!"

"Kids these days." Renesmee said with a shake of her head, before diving back under the water and swimming at a fast, but normal enough speed back to the beach. She pulled herself out of the water, and sat down next to Jacob, who was already sprawled out on the sand.

"You called?" She asked copper-haired girl before her.

Emma nodded eagerly. "I'm hungry." She declared. "I haven't eaten since breakfast. My da—I always eat lunch."

"Hmm…lunch…" Jacob said suddenly. "Lunch sounds nice." He turned to Renesmee. "Can I have some food, too?"

Renesmee smiled sweetly at her best friend. "'Course you can, Jake." She told him. She gestured with her thumb behind her. "Your house is that way; knock yourself out."

Emma giggled, walking over to Renesmee and tugging on the 'older' girl's hand. "Come on, Renesmee. I'm really hungry now."

"We'll find something around here." Renesmee told her. "Unless you want to go all the way back home?"

Emma just gave Renesmee a look that made Jacob burst into laughter, causing Emma to refocus her gaze on him.

"We'll find something here, then." Renesmee said in reply to her verbally unanswered question. Remembering just a second before it was too late whom she was with, Renesmee got back to her feet at a normal speed. She reached her hand out and Emma immediately grabbed it.

"So, tell me," Renesmee said as she and Emma began walking away from the ocean, after Emma had called goodbye to Claire several times. Jacob followed close behind the pair. "What does a young child, such as yourself, like to eat?"

Emma giggled. "You talk funny sometimes, Renesmee. My—My mommy used to do that sometimes. D-Daddy used to say she was a real comedian." Emma shook her head. "I don't even know what a comedian is."

"You know, I know exactly how you feel, Em." Renesmee said. "The things my dad says sometimes…It's like he's speaking a totally different language."

"You can say that again." Jacob muttered.

"Hotdogs!" Emma said suddenly, pointing to what was indeed a hot dog stand just a few yards away from their current position. "Can I have a hot dog, Renesmee?"

"Yes…" Renesmee replied slowly, digging her hands down into her front pockets and finding nothing there. "Money…money…" She muttered under her breath.

"I'd like one hot dog with everything on it, please." Emma told the man behind the counter sweetly. "Ooh…and can I have a bag of chips, too? I love chips…" She turned to Renesmee expectantly. "Do you want anything?"

"I'm not hungry." She replied. "Ah-ha!" She pulled a crumbled and soggy twenty dollar bill out of the back pocket of her shorts. "I found the money!"

As the man handed Emma her food and accepted the money from Renesmee, he gave the older girl a strange look. She just gave him a bright smile, which seemed to momentarily distract him. Until, that is, Jacob literally started growling under his breath at the man, from his place just behind Renesmee. Still smiling at the man, she elbowed him hard in his side.

"Thanks so much." She said sweetly, before grabbing Emma's free hand and spinning around to grab Jacob's arm and pull him forcefully after her as she walked away.

"Geez, Jake, must you always be so unfriendly?" Renesmee asked as the trio sat down at what appeared to be a random picnic table so that Emma could eat. "I, personally, am a very friendly person."

"Yeah, when people start thinking you're crazy because of how weird you act." Jacob replied.

Renesmee rolled her eyes. "You know, it's not my fault that Daddy randomly picks which pocket he puts money in after Alice buys me new clothes." She narrowed her eyes at her friend. "It is, however, your fault that my money was wet."

"I'd love to replace it for you." Jacob said sweetly.

"Oh gosh, please don't!" Renesmee said quickly. "I think it's best that Daddy just gives me the money to spend. That way he won't do something silly like try to show Grandpa Carlisle up and buy a whole country for Momma."

"Well, in any case, I haven't got twenty dollars, so you're safe." Jacob told her.

Emma, meanwhile, was looking at the pair of them with wide eyes. "A whole country? You can really buy a whole country? For real?"

"Umm…" Was all Renesmee had to say.

"Probably not." Jacob filled in for her.

"Oh…" Emma looked just the slightest bit downhearted. "I wish I had my own country. I could be a real princess, just like Daddy always said!"

"You know," Renesmee began, "My Grandpa Carlisle bought my Grandma Esme and island once."

Emma's eyes lit up and, glancing down, Renesmee saw that the little girl had finished her lunch. She was just opening her mouth to ask her what else she wanted to do, when a hair-raising howl rose out of the nearby woods. Jacob immediately turned in the direction of the sound.

"I think it's time to go home now, Emma." Renesmee said quickly and standing up in one fluid movement. "I know you're going to be upset about it, but say goodbye to Jacob. He…has something to do, now."

Emma looked suspiciously at Jacob, who looked quite torn between going to see what the commotion was about and staying to make sure that Renesmee got home safely.

"'Bye, old man." Emma finally said, standing up.

"We'll be fine, Jake." Renesmee told him, placing a hand on his slightly quivering arm. "You know Daddy will have Alice on the lookout for me, even though it won't do any good...but he won't let anything happen to me."

Jacob nodded slowly, and began moving swiftly in the direction of the woods. Before he disappeared under the cover of the trees, he turned back to Renesmee.

"I'll stop by later!" He called out, before melting into the background of trees.

"Much too old for you." Emma said with a shake of her head.

Renesmee smiled and lifted the little girl onto her back, and began walking in the opposite direction Jacob had gone in. The walk home seemed to take a shorter amount of time than it had taken for Renesmee and Emma to get to La Push earlier that day, because in what seemed like no time at all to Renesmee, they were in front of her grandparents enormous white house. Her dad was standing on the front porch, looking very casual as he leaned against the doorframe, but Renesmee saw the relief pass across his face as they came into view.

"Edward!" Emma called happily when she saw him standing there.

"Hello, Emma." Edward replied, standing up straight and walking towards his daughter and niece. "How was the beach?"

"I had so much fun with Claire!" Emma replied excitedly from her place on Renesmee's back. "And Jacob is way too old to be Renesmee's friend, and he dumped her in the water, and then she had to pay for my lunch with wet money. But she said it was OK, because you always giver her money to spend instead of buying stuff. And Edward, will you _please_ buy me an island?"


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

_**Bella's POV**_

After filing away all of the various papers documenting the lives and deaths of Edward's sister and her descendents, the two of us made our way over to the house. Since we had gotten home and thus gotten Emma, we really hadn't spent much time with the rest of the Cullen family. And with Emma and Renesmee gone for what would probably be the rest of the afternoon, now seemed a good a time as any to go see them.

Edward gravitated towards his brothers almost immediately and joined them in their betting on the outcome of some sporting event or another, while I went to keep Rosalie company. We were soon joined by Alice, who had that determined look on her face that always meant one thing was coming: a shopping trip.

She had almost convinced me to join her when we heard it, a wolf's howl; an alarm. Immediately, we all fell silent, Emmett turned the t.v. off entirely. I turned to Edward as Esme came down the stairs.

He shook his head. "They're too far off, I can't hear anything. Alice?"

"There's nothing coming." Alice replied. "I can't see anything."

"Renesmee?"

"Just you, wearing a hole in the floor." She said, her eyes staring unseeingly before her. Then a smile crossed her face. "Emma's got something she wants to ask you."

Edward and I both breathed sighs of relief, letting out air we didn't need. Alice couldn't see Renesmee, of course, but she would have to be the one to bring Emma home. Both of them were going to be all right.

"Can you tell when they'll be back?" Rosalie asked now. "How long it'll be?"

"Before we talk to the wolves." Alice said. "Otherwise, no."

The twenty minutes that followed were quite possibly the longest twenty minutes of all time. It was Edward who first perked up and turned towards the front door, as if he'd heard someone talking just on the other side of it.

"Five minutes." Edward said when he saw me looking at him expectantly.

I relaxed immediately at this news. He'd obviously heard the two of them coming home. However, while I allowed myself to lean back into the couch, momentarily worry-free, Edward began pacing impatiently up and down the floor, right before the front door.

"Told you so." Alice murmured softly.

Edward ignored her and instead pulled the door open and stepped out onto the front step, pulling the door shut behind him.

"He worries way too much." Emmett said now.

"Any parent would." Esme pointed out. "You know how he gets about Nessie; how all of you usually get about protecting her."

"None of us are as crazy as that dog, though." Rosalie said, her lips curling in a grimace as she thought of Jacob. "Where is he now, anyway? I'm not complaining." She rushed to continue, "We finally got the smell out of here; there's no need to invite him back. I'm just amazed he wasn't on our doorstep the moment we got back from the airport."

"Renesmee didn't want to tell him we were coming back." I finally spoke up. "She wanted it to be a surprise."

Nothing more could be said, however, because at that moment the front door opened once more and Edward stepped through, Renesmee close behind with Emma on her back. During our conversation I had registered in the back of my mind that Edward was speaking outside, and now here they were.

"How was the beach?" I asked lightly, standing up as I did so. I glanced at Renesmee for a split second and she gave a shrug to indicate she had no idea what was going on with the wolves.

"It was great!" Emma stated, slipping off Renesmee's back and down to the floor. "Claire was there and we had lots of fun. And Renesmee's friend Jacob was there, too." She wrinkled her nose here, and Rosalie laughed softly, almost imperceptibly, behind me. "I don't like him very much. He's way too old for Renesmee. And he doesn't wear enough clothes. And then he dumped Renesmee in the water and her clothes got all wet, but they dried off."

Emma paused to take a deep breath, and for the first time seemed to notice that there were more people in here than just the four of us. She was still standing next to Renesmee, and as her eyes widened, probably in fear, she reached up to grab the older girl's hand.

"Emma," I began, "Have you met Renesmee's aunts and uncles yet?"

Taking the hint, Renesmee began pointing at each person in the room.

"That's Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice, she'll take you shopping whenever you like; that's Aunt Rosalie, she's good at brushing hair; that's Uncle Emmett, he's the best person in the entire world to play with; and that's Grandma Esme…Grandpa Carlisle is probably at work right now." Renesmee concluded.

"I'm so sorry we didn't introduce everyone to you sooner, Emma." I said once Renesmee had finished. "It's been a bit hectic these past few days, hasn't it?"

She could only nod. And it was just as well because just at that moment I heard the loud, thudding sound of a beating heart coming through the woods. It was beating with a fast pace that meant its owner was running. And it seemed to be heading directly towards us, so it could only belong to one person: Jacob.

Renesmee must have heard it too, because she turned to Emma, faking an unsure look.

"Jacob said he'd stop by later, didn't he?" She asked the younger girl.

"Yes." Emma heaved a put upon kind of sigh, before perking up. "But maybe he'll forget."

"Not likely." Rosalie muttered under her breath. I still live in the hope that one day those two will get over their differences, but I find that outcome very unlikely.

"So Jake's going to stop by sometime today, Momma, just so you know." Renesmee informed me now, mostly for Emma's sake when Jacob showed up on our front porch in a few seconds. And sure enough, there was a knock on the door just a moment after Renesmee fell silent; Jacob had probably heard her.

"That's probably him now." I said, and Edward moved to open the door because he was still closest to it.

"Hey Edward." Jacob said easily, stepping into the house. He shot Edward a meaningful glance, causing Edward to roll his eyes, but the tension lifted from him completely, so Jacob must not have brought bad news. Jacob turned to me now, grinning. "Hey Bells, it's been awhile."

"Did you graduate yet?" I asked him.

"I can be a professional mechanic now, if I wanted." Jacob replied proudly.

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at my old friend. "Then why aren't you busy off having a career rather than visiting my daughter? I do believe she's already been to see you today."

Jacob shrugged nonchalantly. "I just thought I'd stop by. You know, catch up on things…see how you've been."

"While you're catching up with Momma and Daddy," Renesmee began, "I'm going to take Emma home." She turned to Emma now. "We can unpack all of the boxes of your things we brought back with us."

"And I can see all of my stuffed animals again." Emma said happily. "And my clothes. I've missed all of my clothes."

"I like this kid." Alice muttered.

"You know what else you can do, Emma?" Rosalie said, sounding a bit too much as if she was conspiring with the younger girl. "You can take Jacob with you. That way he can move all of the heavy boxes for you."

A huge grin split across Emma's face at this and she began tugging on Renesmee's hand. "Come on, let's go. And bring your boyfriend with."

Once they were out of earshot (or, at least Emma was) I turned to Rosalie, exasperated. "Do you really have to egg on her dislike of Jacob?"

"The more the merrier." Rosalie said with a shrug. "But personally, I think I'd rather find out what's up with the werewolves. I think I almost hope they're in some kind of trouble and they're going to have to stoop to asking us to help them get out of it."

"Hardly." Edward replied. "One of the newer members of Sam's pack came across our scent on patrol. He didn't recognize it, so he sounded the alarm. Everything's been straightened out already."

"That's for the best then." Rosalie said as Emmett turned the baseball game back on. "I'd really rather not spend time around all of those dogs."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

_**Third Person POV**_

"So what's going on with the wolves?" Renesmee asked Jacob as they walked back to the cottage. Emma was skipping ahead of them, clearly eager to order Jacob around.

"It was one of the younger kids in Sam's pack. He knew about you guys, but he's never met you." Jacob explained. "Of course, it also would have helped if Sam had known you were all back, but I guess only Quil and I knew." A wry grin crossed his face. "I guess we aren't very big on sharing, yet."

"Blame Paul." Renesmee advised. "Emma and I talked to him when we looked for you at your house, so he knew too. It can be all his fault."

"Excellent." Jacob said with a grin as they entered the cottage. Emma was standing in the entrance to the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"Come _on_." She said impatiently. "I need your boyfriend to help me."

Renesmee held back a laugh. "He's not my boyfriend, Emma. And how much stuff do you have that's too heavy for you to lift?"

"Well obviously I'm not tall enough to hang all of my clothes up in the closet." Emma pointed out. "Ooh…and that dresser looked pretty high, to me, so I can't reach all of the top drawers to put clothes in there. And someone still needs to set my bed up. Oh, and I forgot that I'm going to need help arranging all of my stuffed animals."

Renesmee turned to Jacob with a smile. "Have fun."

"Don't you want to help, though?" Jacob asked, looking at her pointedly.

"I think it would be better if I let Emma, here, show you how she wants everything." Renesmee replied sweetly. "And while she's exploiting you for manual labor, I'll occupy myself with…something else."

Emma marched purposefully over to Jacob, grabbed his hand, and began attempting to tug him in the direction of the room she was now sharing with Renesmee. "Come on." She said again.

"I hate you." Jacob said as he allowed himself to be pulled away by the little girl.

"Love you, too." Renesmee said with another wide grin. "Have fun!"

Once the pair had disappeared down the hallway, Renesmee turned towards the small kitchen. As the good friend she was, she decided to get Jacob a glass of water to relieve his suffering. Renesmee shook her head with a small laugh. Emma really had it in for him. As Renesmee reached into the cabinet for a glass, her eyes landed on the calendar hanging on the wall next to it. The smile quickly faded from her face and was replaced with a grimace as she caught sight of the planned agenda for the next day.

"School registration? Ew."

* * *

**_Bella's POV_**

* * *

"This is a bad idea." Renesmee stated. "This is a _very_ bad idea."

I glanced over at my daughter, seated beside me in the front seat of the car. "And why is that?" I asked her, amused.

"I don't know." She replied. "It just is. I can tell."

"So now you're some kind of psychic?" I asked, feigning being impressed. "Developing a new ability…how fascinating. I'm sure Carlisle would love to run some tests."

Renesmee finally turned to face me, her eyes narrowed in a glare. "Momma, I don't want to go to school."

"School?" Emma questioned from the backseat. "I love school! I haven't been to school in so long." She sighed here. "I miss it…"

I turned back to my daughter. "You're a terrible role model. Now get out of the car. It's time to register for school!"

"You are much too cheerful about all of this." Renesmee muttered under her breath, and I just gave her another grin, and took hold of Emma's hand as we walked through the parking lot to the administration building.

"We have to get Renesmee all registered for school," I told the little girl, "And then we'll stop by your new school and do the same for you."

Emma smiled happily, skipping slightly as she held onto my hand.

"Bella Swan!" A voice suddenly exclaimed, and at the sound of it I looked up to see someone walking towards us whom I hadn't expected to see at Forks High School again.

"Angela?" I replied, a smile breaking onto my face. "I haven't seen you in so long, how are you? And what are you doing back here?"

"I'm still living at home, so my parents are using me as a chauffeur for my younger brothers." She replied, coming to a stop in front of me. I saw her glance at Renesmee, who had stopped just behind me. Emma was still clutching my hand, but had ducked unseen behind my legs. "And what are you doing here? Miss the old school?"

"No," I said with a small laugh. "I'm definitely done with high school." Behind me, I heard Renesmee give a snort that sounded suspiciously like 'Hypocrite' but was too soft for a human to hear. "I'm registering my niece for school." I informed Angela, gesturing to Renesmee. "We just moved back here because Edward wanted her to see Forks."

"Hi, I'm Renesmee." Renesmee dutifully stuck out her hand after I shot her a meaningful glance. "It's nice to meet you."

Angela shook it with a small laugh. "I wish my brothers were as polite as you. I swear, they're still little monsters. They were supposed to be done with practice at least thirty minutes ago, and I've been walking around looking for them for at least the past fifteen."

"How old are they now?" I asked. As a human, I had barely had any interaction with the twins, and as a result I could barely remember their names, let alone how old they were.

"Fifteen." Angela replied easily. "They'll be sophomores this year. My mom keeps talking about how Isaac and Josh are so grown up now; she seems to have forgotten that I'm older than them."

"Renesmee's fifteen, too." I told her.

"Even though your aunt and I are friends, I won't hold it against you at all if you don't get along with my brothers." Angela informed my daughter with a grin. "But I'll be sure to have them look out for you; it's always nice to know someone." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Of course, I'm sure it would be for the best if I also mention to them that you're practically the police chief's granddaughter."

I could tell this had peaked Emma's interest because she poked her head out from behind my legs, causing Angela to finally notice her.

"And who is this?" She asked with another smile.

"This is Emma." I replied, lightly pulling the little girl out from behind me. "Her mother was my cousin; she's living with us now, though."

"Hi Emma," Angela said, crouching down so that she wasn't towering over the little girl. "And how old are you?"

"Six." Emma replied. I saw her hesitate—she always seemed a bit unsure around strangers at first—before she continued on, "I'm going to be in first grade this year."

"First grade?" Angela repeated. "That's practically as old as Renesmee, here."

Emma smiled happily at this, and Angela straightened up.

"Well, I should let you get going." She said. "I still have to find those annoying brothers of mine. It was so good seeing you, though, Bella. We really need to start keeping in better touch with each other."

"I'm back in Forks for a little bit at least." I told her. "I'm sure we'll see each other around."

Angela nodded, beginning to walk away again. "Good luck at school you two!"

I sighed once she was out of earshot. "I haven't seen anyone from high school in so long."

"Why not?" Emma asked, curious.

"We've been out of the country." I replied.

"Oh…do you have your own island, too?" Emma asked, her eyes lighting up.

"No, not yet." I said with a small laugh.

"And I bet you won't be getting one anytime soon if Daddy knows what's good for him." Renesmee muttered low enough so that only I heard her. Then, louder, "Well, that was fun. We should probably be getting home soon, though. Would you look at the time? I'm getting hungry for dinner."

"It's one o'clock in the afternoon." I stated. "And you had lunch right before we left."

Renesmee scrunched up her nose. "It wasn't very good."

"Edward makes really good food." Emma contradicted her.

I rolled my eyes; they were practically sisters already. "Come on, you two, let's get moving. This isn't our only stop."

Once we'd gotten into the office and I'd given Mrs. Cope Renesmee's name, she looked at me a bit closer.

"Isabella!" She said happily. "I almost didn't recognize you; it's been a while since you've graduated."

I smiled back. "And now Renesmee's going to be attending school here."

"You know, I always thought she was so much younger, the way Charlie talked about her." Mrs. Cope said.

"They grow up so fast." I replied.

"And who is this?" Mrs. Cope said, spotting Emma at my side. "Charlie didn't mention that you have a little girl of your own, now."

"This is Emma; she just came to live with us a few days ago." I said. "I'm sure Charlie hasn't had the chance to spread the word that he has another granddaughter now."

"Well, I'm sure Charlie will get the news out that he has another little girl to brag about soon enough." Mrs. Cope said. "Now, what grade is Renesmee in?"

By the time we had finally gotten back to the house, with the two newest students at Forks High School and Forks Elementary, we were met with an overly cheerful Alice.

"School starts in three days!" Alice exclaimed before the door had closed behind us.

"Don't remind me." Renesmee muttered.

"And do you know what that means?" Alice demanded, speaking over my daughter. She didn't wait for an answer before continuing on without even attempting to make it look like she needed oxygen to survive. "Back-to-school shopping!"

"Do I get new clothes?" Emma asked after only a moment's hesitation. She seemed to have warmed up to Alice, at least, since yesterday.

"Oh, of course." Alice replied as if it would be a crime for any other situation to occur, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Do you mind if I sit this one out?" Renesmee asked.

"No spending time with Jacob today!" Alice exclaimed before Renesmee could continue. "We need to have a girl's day out."

"Geez, what are you, psychic?" Renesmee muttered.

"Not where you're concerned." Alice replied shortly.

Renesmee turned to me. "Please, Momma, just this one thing? You're already forcing me to go to school. Can't I spend some time with Jake, before going to my untimely demise?"

"You've got the rest of your life to spend time with Jacob, Renesmee." I told her, not unkindly. "You can come with us today."

"It's not like we're married." Renesmee grumbled.

"He is your boyfriend, though." Emma pointed out. She smiled innocently at Renesmee, and I was pleased when my daughter finally smiled back.

"I'll come with if you stop saying that." Renesmee informed the little girl.

Emma bit her lip and then turned to me, "Does she have to come with?"

I couldn't hold back my laughter. "No deal making. You're coming with Renesmee."

"Excellent." Alice stated eagerly, cutting Renesmee off as she opened her mouth to reply. "Now, let's get going."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

From a young age, Renesmee had been spoiled rotten, there was no other way about it. I had always wanted my daughter to have as normal of a childhood as possible given the circumstances, but I also enjoyed how pleased Edward would be over Renesmee's joy over each and every gift she was given. And on top of that, our daughter had been reared under Alice's watchful eye for fashion, so her disregard for it now was slightly unsettling. It was rather a shock to find her wholly uninterested in our end-of-summer shopping trip.

"Are you alright, 'Nes?" I asked, sliding up to her as she listlessly pushed through clothes on the rack before her. Alice was with Emma in the next section over, most likely in the process of buying the store out of every article of clothing that was in the six-year-old's size.

"I'm fine," She replied half-heartedly.

"Are you sure about that?" I questioned her. "You would appear to be lacking any kind of enthusiasm for anything right about now, including your favorite pasttime, which I _thought_ was fashion."

Renesmee sighed and turned her full attention to me. "Momma, it's this whole school thing."

I frowned as the words began to tumble out of her mouth at lightning speed. I should have known this was coming.

"I just really don't want to go, Momma. I've never needed to go to an actual school before, and I've done just fine. And I've never really had to truly interact with people over an extended period of time, nevermind people who are supposed to be the same age as me. What if I deviate too much from what an actual teenager in high school is supposed to be like? And Momma, what if they don't like me? What if I don't fit in? I'm not the same as them, Momma, and I never will be. They'll figure out right away that I'm different from them. Please don't make me go!"

"Renesmee," I began slowly, "It's perfectly natural to feel like you won't fit in, especially in high school. And so what if you're a bit different from everyone else? They really aren't going to notice. Your father and your aunts and uncles spent years at that school and no one ever suspected what they _truly_ are. You really don't have to worry about being found out."

"But what if I just don't like it, Momma?" Renesmee questioned. "What if no one likes _me_?"

I simply smiled, recalling my now-hazy memories of my early days at Forks High School. "It's a small town, dear. New students don't come around that often. Just consider yourself lucky that you're starting at the beginning of the school year and not halfway through it like I did."

"But you made lots of friends really quickly," Renesmee said.

"And you will, too," I stated firmly. "You've got nothing but advantages on your side."

"I still think it's a bad idea," Renesmee muttered firmly.

"That's just your nerves talking," I told her. "This is one of those times where you need to experience something first before you can actually become comfortable with making it a continuing habit. It's a bit like hunting."

I could tell she wasn't convinced.

"You really and truly think that things are going to end up so badly for you if you go to school?" I asked her.

Renesmee did not answer, preferring to instead give me a serious look. I took an unneccesary breath and exhaled slowly.

"I'll make you a deal," I said finally, after thinking things over for a few very long seconds.

"I don't have to go?" Renesmee said immediately, brightening up considerably.

"You have to go," I told her firmly. "We've been telling you for weeks that you're going and we've already registered. There's really no getting out of it." Renesmee's shoulders slumped dejectedly. "However," She brightened once more at the word. "If things do turn out absolutely horribly, then your dad and I won't make you stay there—"

"Oh, thank you, Momma!" Renesmee interrupted.

"—for more than a year," I finished, raising my voice to be heard over her glee.

"A year?" She frowned. "An entire year?"

"Yes, an entire year," I told her. "Emma needs to be in school, too. And while we both know that any member of this family is more than capable of teaching the two of you everything you'll ever need to know about anything, it's better for her, especially, that she be around children her own age."

"But taking me out of school doesn't mean you need to take her out too," Renesmee pointed out weakly, knowing that I would counter her argument quite easily.

"And will you be the one to explain to the six-year-old why she has to go to school every day while you stay home?" I questioned. "Not that you have much of a choice, but don't you think it would be easier to just try to go to school?

Renesmee sighed defeatedly. "I'll do my best, Momma."

"Don't forget to at least try to remember to give the other kids a chance," I reminded her, smiling. "Now, let's get back to all of this shopping nonsense before Alice bites my head off for distracting you from all of the pretty clothes too much."

I knew that Renesmee was still doubtful about the entire subject of going to school, but there was a sense of renewed enthusiasm in the air as she turned back to the rack of clothing. I firmly believed that sending her to school was a good idea, and she would come to like it eventually. But only time would tell for sure.

After that final conversation in the store, Renesmee resigned herself to her fate. For the last few remaining days before the school year was due to start, nothing more was said on the subject of whether or not she would be attending her very first day of school. Renesmee spent a majority of the remainder of her time off down at La Push, always with Emma. By the end of those three days, Emma still had little tolerance for my best friend, but was quite fond of Quil, probably due to the fact that she spent so much time with him and Claire. I had not failed to notice that when Emma regaled us with tales of her day each night, both Renesmee and Jacob were conspicuously absent from a good portion of her stories, while Quil and Claire were present in nearly all of them.

On the last night before school started, I sat up with Renesmee while Edward put Emma to bed.

"How is Jacob these days?" I asked. Renesmee and Emma had walked by themselves each time they went to La Push and come home, and I hadn't actually seen my old friend since the day before I'd registered the girls for school when I had come home to find Emma directing Jacob in the rearrangement of the room she and Renesmee now shared.

"He's good," Renesmee replied, her lips curving up in an unbidden smile at the mention of his name. I took note of this reaction in a corner of my mind but chose not to comment on it now. "I think he said something today about stopping by to see you sometime soon now that you're going to have nothing to do with Em and I out of the house every day."

"It's about time that boy visited me," I muttered. "Not that the house hasn't already been empty every day what with the two of you being down there all of the time, lately."

Renesmee and I continued to chat aimlessly about the daily goings on of the reservation and how the two packs were doing for some time. I could tell that the conversation was helping to keep her from dwelling on the new experiences awaiting her in just a few short hours. It was only when Edward joined us that I finally noticed the time and how late it had gotten.

"Has it taken you this long to get Emma to sleep?" I questioned him. "Surely it can't be that hard to convince a six-year-old to go to bed."

"She was out before her head hit the pillow," Edward replied. "I just had a book that I've been meaning to read for a while."

"I think I should be getting to bed now," Renesmee said, standing up after a quick glance in the direction of the clock. She grimaced. "Early day tomorrow."

"Good night, dear," I said as she leaned down and gave me a quick hug before crossing the room and kissing Edward on the cheek as she passed him, before disapearing down the hallway.

"How is she coping with the whole school thing?" Edward asked, settling on the couch beside me. I relaxed into his embrace as he put his arm around me. "I haven't heard her utter a complaint about it in days, although that could just be because I've hardly seen her."

"She'll be fine," I told him confidently. "She loves learning, and she'll do great in an actual school environment."

"I almost miss high school," Edward said thoughtfully. "We should try that again sometime."

"Maybe one day," I said noncommittally. "After your daughter and your niece are both out, perhaps."

"I do believe I'll hold you to that, Mrs. Cullen," He murmured softly into my ear and, needless to say, that particular conversation was over for the rest of the night.


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Forks, Washington, Christmas 2012**

I've never claimed to be a perfect parent. But, with a daughter like Renesmee, it was never really something that I needed to worry about. In fact, in her short six years, the one thing she has ever given Edward and myself any real trouble with was the issue she had with attending an actual school.

Just for the record, forcing my daughter to go to school did make me a perfect parent.

In the four months it has been since she started at Forks High School, I haven't heard a single word of complaint from her about having to go there since her last attempt to get out of it on her very first day. In fact, all she seems to do is talk about how much she loves it—not exactly a normal teenager's response, I realize, but I never claimed my daughter was normal. Accustomed to spending all of her time with vampires and the occasional werewolf, Renesmee never knew what being a normal teenager was like until Edward and I made her go to school.

Of course, this whole experience did end up leading us to the one day Edward has been dreading ever since our daughter was born. So maybe I'm still not quite the perfect parent…

_Flashback_

_First day of school—afternoon_

"_Momma!" Renesmee exclaimed, practically bursting through the front door. "We're home!"_

_I had heard their approach a while ago, but looked up from the book I had been reading when Renesmee announced her presence. Not far behind her, Edward and Emma were just entering the house. I smiled expectantly at my daughter._

"_How was your first day?" I asked her calmly. Judging from the wide smile on her face, I was sure I wasn't wrong to think that it had gone well._

"_It was wonderful," Renesmee said, collapsing onto the couch beside me as Edward went to the kitchen with Emma, to get her an after-school snack. "I made friends. Real, actual _friends_."_

"_I told you that you would," I reminded her, smiling lightly. "What are their names?"_

"_Actually," Renesmee said, "The two I talked to the most today were your friend Angela's brothers: Isaac and Joshua. I guess she really did tell them to look for me, like she said she would. They were so nice to me."_

_It was at that point that the door opened once more and Jacob entered. I had heard his approach, but I had been too glad that Renesmee really had enjoyed her first day of school to change the subject._

"_Who was nice?" Jacob asked, making himself comfortable in one of the chairs across from the couch we were sitting on._

"_Josh and Isaac," Renesmee replied promptly. "They're my new friends. They showed me around the school and the introduced me to people. And I have math and history with Josh, and homeroom and English with Isaac, so they each sat next to me in those classes. I guess you were right, momma, school isn't so bad after all."_

_End Flashback_

Were I not Renesmee's mother, I'm sure I would have found the events that followed Renesmee's announcement rather entertaining. After all, it's not often I see Jacob getting jealous about the fact that Renesmee only new friends appear to be "two hormonal teenage boys," as he later complained to me out of her earshot.

Either way, as time passed and Renesmee became closer to all of her new friends, she also became closer to Jacob. And, to put it simply, Edward and I have always been less than fond of the fact that a werewolf imprinted on our daughter mere moments after her birth. And now…well, like I said before, the day that we've both secretly been dreading for the past six years has finally arrived. On the plus side, though, we're quite adamant about Renesmee being our responsibility until she turns eighteen for real, never mind the fact that she'll technically be fully mature in just another short year.

Funnily enough, the one person who seems to be the most pleased with this recent turn of events is actually Emma, who, up until now, hasn't really seemed to really like Jacob very much (thus leading Rose to dote on her even more). Of course, that's probably because Renesmee gave her five dollars, as Emma won the bet the two of them made about Jacob becoming Renesmee's boyfriend.

Having Emma in our lives has certainly been an interesting experience. If anything, she makes us just the tiniest bit more human, and that is because she is entirely human, and only six years old. Never before have Edward and I appreciated just how easy it was to raise Renesmee—and how quickly she grew up. But the fact remains that we all love having Emma in our lives, even while we do regret the way she came to us.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward had come over to where I was standing, looking out of the window out into the snow-covered forest.

"Just a few things," I replied, the majority of my attention focused on him now, rather than my thoughts.

"What kind of things?" He asked with a smile.

"Renesmee and Jacob," I admitted. Edward's expression shifted to a frown and, across the room where he and Rose were playing a game with Emma that she had gotten earlier as a present, Emmett let out a low chuckle that was too soft for a human to hear. Through the reflection in the window, I saw Rose elbow him sharply in the side and his attention returned to their game. "But Emma, too. Mostly Emma, actually."

"Ms. Nivell said she was adjusting quite nicely," Edward felt the need to remind me.

About two months ago, at the end of October, after Emma had been with us for about two months, Ms. Nivell, Emma's social worker, had completed her last home visit. She had conducted several visits to see how Emma was settling in over those two months, and at her last one she had told us how pleased she was with Emma's progress and how well she seemed to fit in with our family. Later, after she had gone, Edward also shared with me that she had secretly also been extremely relieved that we were so able to cope with having a second child thrust upon us at such a young age.

"I know," I replied slowly, finally turning to look at him. "But…I was thinking…do you think we'll have to tell her one day? Tell her the truth, I mean?"

"I suppose we might," Edward said just as slowly. "It would be unfair to cut ourselves out of her life; she doesn't deserve to lose anyone else. And," His hesitation was so brief I almost didn't notice it, "She _is_ family. We can't just leave her like that."

"I'd never want to leave her either," I reassured him. As Emma was the last living link he had to his sister, I had guessed he might feel that way, and I would whole-heartedly support him. "But what about the Volturi?"

"They're only an issue if they find out about her," Edward stated. "And it should really only be a problem if Emma really does know the truth."

"In a few more years it will be pretty hard to hide it from her for much longer," I pointed out.

"I don't think we should waste any more time worrying about that until it actually becomes an issue," Edward said firmly. "We should just enjoy all of our time as a family while we can."

I couldn't help but smile at him here. "You're right, we should. And you can start by going to see what on Earth Carlisle and Esme are doing in the kitchen. They sound like they're having entirely too much fun in there to be doing anything productive like cooking an actual meal."

"I'd say it's more like they're being entirely too _over_-productive," Edward said with his own grin. "But as you wish, Mrs. Cullen."

And, with an overly-ornate bow full of unnecessary flourishes, Edward turned and made his way into the kitchen. Rolling my eyes at his antics, I turned fully now so that the entire room was in my view.

Over on the couch, Renesmee was sitting with her feet tucked under her, having a quiet conversation with Charlie. While, at the other end, Alice was stretched out, seemingly asleep, with her feet on Jasper's lap as he read a book about the Civil War, of all things. Jacob, meanwhile, really was asleep behind the couch. He had spent the night running patrol before spending Christmas morning with his dad, Rachel, and Paul, and then coming here to have dinner. Miraculously, for once he wasn't snoring.

As Esme finally came out to announce the everyone could come out into the dining room to eat, Rosalie carefully aimed a game piece at the sleeping Jacob and he awoke with a start. Renesmee quickly led him to the dining room before he could retaliate, though.

"Come sit next to me Bella!" Emma ran over to where I was still standing and took my hand. Together we made our way to the table. "I want to tell you all about my game!"

As Emma chattered on cheerfully about how her game of Monopoly Junior was going (unsurprisingly, Emmett and Rosalie appeared to be letting her win), Rosalie and Jacob argued rather amicably at the other end of the table about how rude they each thought the other was, while Charlie quietly filled his plate with food, steadfastly ignoring the fact that the Cullens were mostly moving the food around on their own plates rather than actually eating it. I couldn't help but smile at all of this.

This was my family.

I can freely admit that being a parent was never really in my long-term plan for my future. But now that I have Renesmee and Emma, I wouldn't give it up for anything.

I know that one day we might have to reveal the truth to Emma about vampires and werewolves; it's not something we'll be able to hide from her forever. But, with the Volturi, it's not something we'll just be allowed to tell her, never mind that she is technically our daughter now. We'll cross that bridge when we eventually come to it, however. For now, I'll follow Edward's advice and stop worrying about it. After all, I might have all of eternity to live, but once a day passes, I'll never be able to get it back. And I, for one, fully intend to enjoy every single second I have with my family.


End file.
